Reminiscent
by Resigned
Summary: After seeing something interesting involving Damon and Jamie, Murdoc is forced to rethink things. Murdoc2D, Damon AlbarnJamie Hewlett.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Gorillaz belong to Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn. They belong to their mothers. Alright? Alright.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although Murdoc Niccalls was rude, obnoxious and self-centered, he knew talent. And since Gorillaz were the best rock band on the planet, why not recruit people who were almost as talented? Namely Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Even he had to admit they had helped Gorillaz in some way, shape or form. Damon, for example, knew almost as much about music as 2D did. And brilliant songs needed brilliant music videos to match, which was where Jamie came in. So it would only seem natural that he needed to meet with Jamie in particular today; unannounced, of course. Murdoc Niccalls didn't need to announce his visits. He was, after all, the world's greatest bassist.

He was in a bad mood to begin with, anyway. Loud noises emanating from Shaun Ryder's disembodied head (located in Noodle's room), for example, had awoken him in the 'Bago. No one wants to be greeted by the chorus of Dare at five in the morning. And then, he had misplaced his notebook. He had some good stuff written in it too; five minute bass solos, the works. To top it off, as he ascended the stairs to Jamie's flat, some idiot in Elvis Costello glasses, carrying a guitar case, had rudely bumped into him, and then had the nerve to ignore him after Murdoc shot a particularly good insult at him. So when he announced his presence by loudly kicking open the door—it was unlocked, so what was the point of closing it?—he was in no mood to deal with any annoyances. Sadly, we don't all get what we wish for.

Jamie was still asleep, he guessed, and since he hadn't been awakened by the loud noise of the door hitting the wall, Murdoc had the right to locate him immediately. He prowled through Jamie's flat, finally coming across the bedroom.

First off, there was not one, but two pairs of feet poking out from under the blankets. One belonged to Jamie, of course, but whose were the other one? A girl, he decided, but who was she?

Jamie Hewlett lay with an arm crookedly across Damon Albarn, his face buried in Damon's hair. He was whispering something in his ear, from the looks of it. Murdoc, all of a sudden, felt very awkward and out of place. He cleared his throat.

Damon shot up, a slight panicked look on his face, and relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Oh. Murdoc. God, you…I thought Gra…nevermind. Good morning." He exited the room. "Oi, Jamie, seen my pants…?"

"Couch," called Jamie, sitting up and stifling a yawn. He glanced good-naturedly at Murdoc. "This is about th'video, right? I've got a few things--"

"What?" Murdoc blinked, and had a sudden glimpse into how 2D felt 24/7. "Oh. Forget it. I, ah…see, I'm late. I forgot about that. I need to go."

Jamie nodded, still grinning. "Right."

And so Murdoc made his exit, though not without barking, "BUT DON'T THINK Y'CAN SLACK OFF, SEE?" as he passed through the ruined doorway. He wasn't sure how he felt, really. Two men. Together. The thought made him shiver inwardly. No. _That wouldn't work_, he thought to himself, more than a little surprised when a small voice in his head whispered, _It could if it was_…

He shook his head, clearing all thoughts of blue-haired dullards from his mind.

"It wouldn't," he repeated out loud. Though much less firmly.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Gorillaz don't belong to me. Neither do Damon or Jamie.

Note: I decided to write this fic because of the startling lack of Damon/Jamie stuff out there. I hope you like it, but it's my first fic, really. So it really isn't any good. But thanks for reviewing. That was a subliminal message, there. And I know the chapters are short. But I get my imagination in short spurts. Ooh, that sounded dirty.

Ohyes. And if anyone knows whose name Damon was about to say in the first chapter/who Murdoc bumped into, they win my internetz. Foserious.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The peanut butter smelled funny.

2D had been inspecting it for a few minutes. He wasn't entirely sure if it was 'safe' or not—most of the food at Kong Studios was questionable. In the entire time he had lived there, he could recall only one big grocery trip, and that was when Russ had first joined 2D and Murdoc in their lovely abode. What he was puzzling over now remained from that trip.

He figured that it would be safe because it was in an unopened jar. Right? That made sense. But when he opened it, it was a little…funny looking. He sighed. This would've been so much easier if he hadn't wanted a sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly was his favourite, too.

He decided to chance it.

Bravely wielding a (butter) knife, he picked up the slice of bread, and…

…and nearly collided with Murdoc as he stormed through the kitchen.

"Watch it, dullard," he snarled, shoving the singer and causing him to drop his bread on the floor.

"Good morning t'you, too…" 2D mumbled to Murdoc's retreating back as he stared forlornly at the bread on the filthy floor. Though he was slow, he wasn't stupid—he knew Murdoc was in a bad mood about SOMETHING. 2D wasn't sure what he had done wrong. Had he missed a practice? No. It had to be something he wasn't aware of.

That left a good deal of choices. Murdoc got angry at him if he smiled funny, or breathed too loudly. Or twitched too much. Or…well, he couldn't name all of them. But there were lots, to be sure. And when he commented upon this—he recalled saying something about how Murdoc was like a woman who was constantly PMS-ing—Murdoc would invariably get angry at him even more so. He sighed and picked up the bread. Maybe he wouldn't try it after all. But in terms of Murdoc, the best thing to do, he decided, would be to ask. Bread in hand, he vacated the kitchen in pursuit of Murdoc.

He was walking very quickly, forcing 2D to have to jog to keep up with him. He really needed to stop smoking. It caused him to be out of breath much too easily.

"Muds," he panted. "Muds. Hey. Hey. I'm sorry."

This caused Murdoc to stop suddenly, causing 2D to almost bump into him in his haste.

"For what?" Murdoc growled with harsh suspicion, causing 2D to back up a step or two. For some reason, he refused to so much as glance at 2D's face, his eyes instead pinned on the ground

"Well, ah…I fought you were angry at me for…for…" He brightened. Now was the time to discreetly change the subject. "So! How was your meeting with Damon and Ja…"

This was met with a fist colliding with 2D's somewhat puzzled face.

"BLOODY FINE, ALRIGHT?" Murdoc exclaimed angrily before stalking off, presumably to the 'Bago.

2D was left standing there with a bloody nose. He sighed.

Sometimes, he just did not get Murdoc Niccals.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you Trow It All Away, SoNoRan'.'CHiLD'.'Liu, The 'Blur' Witch, Z0nbiLoVeR, and Deep Red Crayon for reviewing. And Z0nBiLoVeR has won my internetz because she guessed correctly that it was Graham Coxon. Hooray. That will be all, I think. Ohyez. Jamie, Damon, and Gorillaz do not belong to me. Sadly. I apoligise in advance for any spelling errors.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damon knew it had been a mistake to spend the night at Jamie's; he KNEW it. It was just supposed to be a meeting. But he had been feeling out of sorts lately, and then, of course, he ran into Graham on the way over. He hadn't seen him since Graham split with Blur, and it made him feel a little worse than usual. He had, after all, known him since he was thirteen. And though it was Damon that broke it off with him, it was the deep and clenching nostalgia that made him still catch himself thinking about him. But that, of course, was just the least of his problems.

Murdoc had seen him and Jamie. Together. Luckily, they weren't doing anything…obscene, but it still troubled him. Murdoc was not a predictable man. And if he let this out to the press, it would be very bad indeed. This made itself apparent as Damon mulled it over at the piano.

"That's the fourth or fifth time you've messed up that phrase," remarked Jamie mildly. He was bent over a paper napkin and scribbling at it with a pen. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing," he sighed moodily, tinkering out "Happy Birthday" absent-mindedly.

"Somehow, I doubt that," Jamie murmured in response, glancing up at him

Damon shrugged, focusing on the keys of the piano rather than evading Jamie's questions. His thought process, however, was interrupted by Jamie flicking his pen at him. "Hey," he began irritably, not in the mood to have things flung at his general person, and looked up to find Jamie standing next to him.

"Shove over, and teach me how to play something."

Twenty minutes passed, and Damon found himself listening to Jamie stab out a particularly painful rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Unable to suppress a laugh, Damon, all of a sudden, found the ceiling particularly interesting.

"You're laughing at me."

"Me? Of course not."

Jamie finished his performance by banging loudly on the keyboard. "Jealousy, Damon," he said gravely, "does not suit you."

"Then what does?"

"Everything else."

"Oh. Good." Looking at Jamie, Damon felt a sudden rush of fondness for the artist, and impulsively rested his head on his shoulder.

"You need to shave," he whispered, feeling the rough stubble of Jamie's face as he turned to kiss him; although secretly, he liked it better when he didn't. He felt Jamie's lips curve into a slight smile.

"Let's talk to Murdoc." Damon had just enough time to nod in assent before he suddenly became busy doing something more interesting.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was always 2D's job to answer the doorbell. Russel, although responsible, was in actuality quite slow, and Noodle was usually doing something important. Murdoc, well…Murdoc never felt like it. So when the doorbell rang, 2D was the one to drag himself off his bed and head for the door.

He wondered who it was. In the best possible scenario, it would be a man informing him he had won a million pounds in a sweepstakes, or the piano tuner he had hired a couple of weeks back and never heard from again. In the worst possible scenario, it would be the piano tuner, except turned into a zombie, or one of the really obsessive fans.

The pounding on the door became more urgent, and as he opened the door, Damon and Jamie nearly fell on top of him, followed by a groaning member of the undead. The piano player.

"Figures," he mumbled, and shut the door quickly. The creature's arm caught in the door, snapped off, and fell to the floor. Damon swallowed, looking more than a little out of place.

"Oh, don't worry," 2D said quickly, nudging the twitching appendage with his toe. "Noodle'll probably get it when she vacuums." Jamie cleared his throat.

"Ah…right, good. Well then. We've decided to move the meeting to today, if Murdoc's around or anything…"

"He's out, I fink," the singer replied apologetically, then brightened. "But…we have some stuff anyway an' if Damon'll tune the piano, I can show it to you."

"Right!" Damon grinned, clearly looking forward to going straight to the music. "Studio, then?" Without waiting for 2D's reply, Damon disappeared into the next room. 2D followed after a pause, and so did Jamie.

Listening to the two of them chatter enthusiastically about music and things, Jamie couldn't help but grin a little to himself. Both were similar when speaking about music. He watched Damon from where he stood in front of him, and found himself thinking about last night; Damon's flushed, almost guilt expression, and the way his breath hitched when he---

"Stop it," hissed Damon, elbowing him in the side. Jamie was abruptly brought out of any thoughts he might've had prior, and mumbled a "sorry" before catching up with 2D in the studio room. Damon and 2D went straight to the piano, going on about fifths and octaves and thirds and other things he clearly had no idea about.

Jamie sighed, and pulled out the paper napkin he had been drawing on earlier. This would take a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Gorillaz do not belong to me. Jamie Hewlett does not belong to me. Damon Albarn does not belong to me.

Yet.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in chapters. Nothing else interesting to say here.

When Murdoc was having issues he needed to work out, he turned to the best psychologist in the business.

He turned to the drink.

Which is why he sat, tipping precariously at a barstool, growling something incoherent at the football game on the television. Trying to keep his mind off of…other things.

Lately, he had been thinking of strange things. Namely, 2D. He found himself thinking more and more about the singer; even more than that girl with the "terrific knockers" that he had gone out with when he was sixteen.

The way he spoke, for instance. The way he said almost everything with a sheepish grin, curling one hand around his other elbow. The way he looked when he played the piano. The way he—

"Stop it stop it STOP IT!" he roared suddenly, overturning someone's drink in the process. The rest of the bar—namely two middle-aged men, stared at him. Oh. That had been out loud, hadn't it.

He uttered something incomprehensible and stormed out of the bar. His dramatic exit was subdued somewhat as he had forgotten to pay for that last drink and he was forced to return.

Leaving a second and final time, he shakily drew a breath of air and lit up. As he fiddled with the lighter—"Stupid, rubbish, knockoff thing…"--- he tried to get his thoughts in order. He and 2D were best friends. Mates. Nothing beyond that.

_But so were Damon and Jamie. Weren't they?_

He shook his head furiously. No. Never. Him and 2D. Besides, he was completely straight. In truth, he actually had nothing against homosexuals. He just didn't like to think about it. He didn't and would never like blokes, he assured himself as he hailed down a cab.

There was still a bit of walking involved, as cabbies now refused to go anywhere near Kong Studios, and Murdoc soon found himself out of breath. Drunk, some years over 35, in terrible physical shape, and ridiculous. You couldn't really get worse than that. He was in a terrible mood.

"OPEN THE FUCKIN' DOOR!" he slurred, banging rather loudly upon its surface.

"OPEN THE…"

It was 2D that came to the door. Just his luck, really. Just his luck. He surveyed the blank stare, the spiky blue bangs, the…

Ah, fuck it. He was in love.

"2D. 2D, mate, Stuart fucking Pisspot, dullard, shite-for-brains, sunsh-" He lurched drunkenly and was caught—barely—by the singer.

"Ergh. Muds! Geroff. Damon and Jamie are here."

"Who?"

2D didn't answer; he was using all of his oxygen to half drag, half carry Murdoc into the studio. Then he remembered. Jamie. Damon.

They were sitting there, looking into each other's eyes with an air that made Murdoc feel the urge to both vomit and flee at the same time. Instead, he decided to talk. Make a speech, like.

"Oi. Oi. 2D. Y'know…y'know what?"

"Nah. Wot?" 2D mumbled. He was embarrassed. Of Murdoc. That killed him.

"Damon, and Jamie 'ere…they're…they're,"

"Shut it, Murdoc. I'm warning you." whispered Damon, his expression very much like 2D's.

"Shut up. Bastard. Anyway, they're…they're FUCKING, sunshine," He paused for dramatic effect.

And it was a very dramatic pause, true.

"Wot?" 2D said, finally, keeping his eyes on Murdoc. As far as he could tell, anyway.  
"I walked in on them. Right bloody after they shagged, I bet. Wankers. And Jamie's on the top, too—"

2D glanced at Damon, as if asking if this was true. He said nothing.

"Murdoc. Murdoc. Hey. I fink…you've had too much to drink, yeah? Why don't you—"

"You're prettier when you shut your mouth," said Murdoc finally. And grabbing a fistful of 2D's hair, pressed the singer's mouth roughly to his own.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Gorillaz do not belong to me. Damon and Jamie do not belong to me. The Times New Roman font does not belong to me, either. While I'm at it, I nicked this keyboard off of a friend when I was cleaning his garage for him. So that's not mine either.

Author's note: There is an unedited version of this story floating around on my computer. It has an interesting (read: pronz) scene involving Damon and Jamie. I dunno. I don't really feel like making an adultfan account to put it up, though. Would anyone be interested in reading it? Again, sorry for the delays, thanks for reviews, etc etc.

ps I'm writing this listening to classical music. maybe it'll turn out better, no?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cigarettes. Beer. Something he wasn't entirely sure of. Not an unpleasant taste; far from it, strangely. It tasted like…men. Men who played bass. Men with two different coloured eyes. Men named Murdoc Niccals.

2D's thought process in that instant could be likened to how he felt when those kids back in grade school nicked his trousers and forced him to run after them pantsless; frantic. Lacking both sense and shape.

He wasn't gay. He wasn't. Of course, he had always admired Murdoc in particular. But he certainly didn't want to be involved with him…romantically. He'd probably forget it in the morning. He'd probably

It was quite difficult to be straight while you were locking lips with another man. And it was a real, open-mouthed kiss. And your pants were much tighter than they had been when you came into the room. And you were pretty sure his were, too.

Damon had found something very interesting in the ceiling, it seemed, and was gazing upward intently. Jamie was untying and retying his shoes with an intensity that could be found in many rocket scientists (not including Alex James). And then it was over. Murdoc was murmuring, whispering his name in his ear, before pushing him away and stalking off in the direction of the Winne. Nothing real was said. In the instant following, there was an awkward pause, and Jamie mumbled something about going off to warm up the car.

"Well then," said Damon abruptly, standing up.

"Well then," agreed 2D. He brought a hand up to his lips, touched them absentmindedly. They stood there staring at anything but each other until Jamie returned, breathing heavily and scowling at his ripped jacket.

"Zombies. They're everywhere tonight," he finally managed, gesturing vaguely at the door. "Can we…er, I mean, is it alright if we stay here? Just for the night. I can't get out to the car, and…" He shrugged hopelessly.

2D looked up with a start. "Oh. Yeah. You can stay in my room, I fink."

"Thanks."  
It was silent for a few seconds until 2D shrugged, and left the room.

It was always hard to guess Murdoc's intentions. Maybe he didn't have any. It was probably a stupid, spontaneous thing he did because he was drunk. The thing that caused him to second guess himself was the fact that he would feel strangely disappointed if that was the case. It was probably for the best to forget it and move on. Don't mention it to him in the morning. Hope he calls you sunshine, like he does when he's in a good mood, and don't say a thing.

They made awkward conversation as 2D rummaged through his closet for spare blankets and things.

"They're washed. I fink," he called to Damon, tossing him a lumpy sleeping bag with stains of a questionable hue. Damon caught the sleeping bag deftly and gingerly brought it to his nose.

"It smells fine," he tried. 2D grinned.

"Ha. Bet not. It's Murdoc's," He shut the closet briskly and stood up. "I'll go find Jamie something in Russell's room or wha-"

"No, it's alright. I'll…ah…sleep with Damon." Jamie paused, realized what he just said. "No. No. I mean, you know, not sleeping with Damon necce-"

"Just shut up, Jamie, and help me get this set up."

2D lay awake long after Damon and Jamie had finished whispering to each other and fallen asleep. It was just a kiss. Maybe he should go to the Winnebago. Just to talk to him. Set things straight; you know, stand up for himself for once.

He got out of bed. Stepped over the sleeping Damon and Jamie—Jamie with a protective arm thrown over Damon, Damon as close as possible to Jamie—and left the room as quietly as he could.


End file.
